According to You
by water wolf 100
Summary: Max is in a not so grat relationship with Sam. Will she stick with him or dump him for the guy that has always been there for her? According to you by Orianthi.


**Here's a little one shot for all of you. I must warn you all there is an extreme OOC Max in this story! Plus some Sax *shudder* (Personally it is my goal to sestroy Sax for it is horrible!) But anywho I hope you all enjoy the songfic :)**

* * *

**According to you I'm stupid, I'm useless**  
**I can't do anything right**  
**According to you I'm difficult, hard to please**  
**Forever changing my mind**  
**I'm a mess in a dress, can't show up on time**  
**Even if it would save my life**  
**According to you, according to you**

"Max what am I going to do with you?" Sam yelled at me. I flinched as his words cut right through me. It hadn't been my fault that I had dropped the pot with our dinner in it. It was hot and it slipped right out of my hands, and then crashed onto the floor. "You were the one who wanted to stay here, but earlier you wanted to go out. Make up your mind Max! You're so stupid sometimes. You can't do anything right."

"Sam, I'm sorry. It was an accident!" I pleaded. Although I knew he was right. I was stupid, I never thought before I did something. My family said that I thought with my heart and not my head, so here I was in trouble again because of it. Stupid heart; why do you always get me into trouble? "I really am sorry Sam. I guess I'll just go home now. I'll see you tomorrow", I called as I walked out of Sam's apartment. Shoving my hands in my pockets I walked down the street with my head down. I didn't even notice the person standing outside Sam's apartment building looking at me.

"Crap I'm late!" I screamed. Instantly I broke into a run but wearing a sundress makes that a little difficult. I stopped long enough to rip off my shoes then continued tearing down the sidewalk. Sam was going to be furious, I promised him I would be on time but once again I overslept.

"Hey Max where's the fire?" a voice called out to me. Hardly slowing down I saw my friends Iggy and Nudge walking down the other side of the street. Nudge was waving happily and Iggy smiled in my direction. If I wasn't late I would have stopped and talked to them but I just didn't have time. I hardly got to see them anymore; Sam wanted me to spend almost all my time with him so I didn't get to see my other friends very often.

"Sorry guys gotta run. I'm late for meeting Sam", I yelled. Nudge's happy smile faded and Iggy scowled. Neither of them was too fond of Sam but they put up with him for me. "I'll call you tonight!" I yelled as I continued running. After what seemed like an eternity, I saw Sam's apartment and I ran up the stairs two at a time.

Sam was waiting for me in the front room. His face was set in a scowl and he glared at me as I walked inside. "You said you would be here at eight. It's eight fifteen. Seriously Max, can't you ever show up on time? Never mind, that was rhetorical, you couldn't show up on time to save your life. And what are you wearing? You look like a mess; I can't go out with you looking like that. Go clean up", Sam ordered. I slowly made my way into the bathroom and brushed my hair and smoothed out my dress. Ten minutes later Sam and I were walking down the street towards the Pier. Our afternoon was decent; Sam only called me stupid once. It was right after lunch when I realized I left my purse at the booth. Sam said I was an idiot and ran to get it. While I stood there waiting for him someone came up and stood beside me.

"Hello Max", a quiet voice whispered. I snapped my head around and was greeted by a pair of deep onyx eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"Fang, I haven't seen you in a while", I said happily. Fang was one of my best friends since childhood. We grew up next door to each other, our backyards separated by a short chain link fence. When we were little we would sit on the edge of our backyards and talk for hours on end. When I had begun dating Sam, Fang distanced himself from me a little but we were still pretty close.

Early on in our relationship, Sam and I fought a lot and Fang was always there to comfort me. After graduation, I hardly ever saw Fang but when I did he always made me feel wonderful. Better then Sam ever did.

**But according to him I'm beautiful, incredible**  
**He can't get me out of his head**  
**According to him I'm funny, irresistible**  
**Everything he ever wanted**  
**Everything is opposite, I don't feel like stopping it**  
**So baby tell me what I got to lose**  
**He's into me for everything I'm not**  
**According to you**

"You, um, look really great Max. Is that a new dress? I'm guessing you're here with Sam today. I guess I better get going", Fang muttered. He gave me a little smile and began to walk away. Before he left I grabbed his hand and he turned back around.

"Sam is here, but he went back to get my purse. So he'll be a little while. I'd like to talk to you for a little while Fang. I never get to talk to you anymore", I pleaded. Fang shrugged and let go of my hand. Together we walked down the Pier just talking and laughing. I told him a story of something my little sister, Angel, had done the previous week and Fang burst into laughter. It was something I hadn't heard in a long time.

"Max I want to be honest with you. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. I just keep remembering all the good times we had growing up and it makes me want to have more time with you. But as long as Sam is in the picture, I can't be around you." I stopped and stared at Fang. He wanted to be with me? I never knew. Just then I heard Sam scream my name and I snapped my head around to see him searching all over the Pier for me. I gave Fang a sad look and gave him a quick hug before running back to Sam.

Needless to say, Sam wasn't happy with me 'wandering off'. As he ranted and yelled about how frustrating I was, my thoughts wandered to what Fang had told me. Was I with the right guy? Fang and Sam were so different from each other. Sam was loud, controlling and had no sense of humor. While Fang was quiet considerate and made me feel amazing when we were together. "Max! Pay attention! I'm talking to you, so listen."

"I-I'm sorry Sam", I said. I don't know why but my voice shook a little and I don't know why. My brain was just in another world, Fang had just stepped back into my life and I had a lot of thinking to do. No matter what Sam said, I was going to let Fang stay in my life because he means so much to me.

"I saw you talking to that one guy you knew in high school. Fang", Sam said his words with a hint of ice in them. "What did he want?"

"He just wanted to say hi. We haven't talked in a long time so we decided to take a short walk while I was waiting for you to come back." Sam scowled but didn't say anything back. He took my hand and we walked back to his apartment.

**According to you I'm boring, I'm moody**  
**And you can't take me any place**  
**According to you I suck at telling jokes**  
**'Cause I always give it away**  
**I'm the girl with the worst attention span**  
**You're the boy who puts up with that**  
**According to you, according to you**

The next day I found myself sitting at a restaurant with Sam and his friends Lissa and Dylan. Sam had picked me up at my house pretty early to go to lunch and I was still a little tired. I didn't get much sleep the night before so I was really irritable. Even though Sam and I have been dating for a while now he still doesn't understand how I am when I'm tired. "Cheer up Max," Sam demanded. "You need to stop being so dang moody all the time." I glared at him and took another bite of my salad. Personally I'd rather be eating a big juicy hamburger but Sam would go on so rant about how bad they were for me.

After lunch the four of us all went back to Dylan's apartment to relax and chill before Lissa had to go to work. I decided to tell a joke that I had heard on the radio the other day but I messed it up and accidently gave away the punch line before the end of the joke. Sam groaned and shook his head as I looked down at my feet. "Really Max? Can't you even tell a simple joke? It's not that hard." I shrugged and continued to look around the room.

Later on as Sam walked me back to my house he started telling a story about an incident with a girl at his job named Brigid but I was too interested in watching the birds fly around the trees. "Max!" Sam shouted. I snapped my head back at him and sighed.

"Sorry Sam. I wasn't playing attention. What were you saying about the girl at your job?" Sam shook his head and groaned.

"Honestly Max, Why do I even put up with you? You have the shortest attentions span in the history of the world! Look we're back at your place. Don't burn the place down. I'll see you tomorrow." Sam waved and turned around, leaving me standing on my porch like an idiot. I found my key in my purse and let myself in. My two dogs, Total and Akila jumped around my legs while I set my bag and jacket down on the couch. From the corner of my eye I saw a little red light blinking on my answering machine.

The first message was from my dentist's office reminding me of my appointment, the second one was from my sister asking if she could borrow a dress for a wedding she had to go to. The final message was really hard for me to understand because there was a lot of static and the person was speaking very softly. I turned up the volume and replayed the message. This time I was able to make out a little bit of the message. My hand flew to my mouth when I recognized the voice. It was Fang. The only things I was able to make out were 'I'm sorry' and 'You don't have to call me back'.

Without even realizing what I was doing I picked up the phone and punched in Fang's number as quickly as my fingers could. I had to know what Fang said to me.

**But according to him I'm beautiful, incredible**  
**He can't get me out of his head**  
**According to him I'm funny, irresistible**  
**Everything he ever wanted**  
**Everything is opposite, I don't feel like stopping it**  
**So baby tell me what I got to lose**  
**He's into me for everything I'm not**  
**According to you**

Each ring was agony and for a split second I thought he wasn't going to answer. Right before I pulled the phone away from my ear I head a soft click and someone say "Hello?"

"Fang? It's Max. I was just returning your call," I said with a shaky voice. "Is everything all right?" There was silence on the other end of the line. "Fang?"

"I'm fine. You didn't have to call me back you know."

"I know. I wanted to though. How, how have you been?" I waited for Fang to respond and for a second I thought he had hung up.

"I've been alright. You?" After that the two of us talked for hours, telling each other stories of what's been happening to us and simply catching up. I told him about the most recent fights I had with Sam and he told me about the things our friends were up to.

I glanced up at the clock and saw it was going on ten at night. We had been talking for almost five hours. "Fang I'm really sorry. I've taken up your whole evening," I apologized.

"It's ok. I don't have any plans tonight anyways. I was just going to chill at my place and read a book or something." I smiled then out of habit I checked my cell phone. My heart dropped when I saw I had three missed calls.

"Oh no. Fang I'm sorry but I've got to go. Sam called me three times and he's going to be really mad that I didn't answer. I'll talk to you later though," I said frantically. I was about to hang up when I heard Fang shout from the other end of the line.

"Don't go Max. Sam needs to learn that not everything you do has to revolve around him."

"I know but…"

"But nothing Max. I'm telling you this because I care about you. "You've changed ever since you started dating Sam. The Max I once knew would never put up with the way Sam treats her. Where is that girl?" I didn't answer Fang. I was too shocked. Was Fang right? Had I really become soft? I remembered a time, back when I was in high school, when I would take on anyone that challenged me. I once stood up to a guy that had at least a hundred pounds on me. Then I started dating Sam and he said that it wasn't proper for a girl to be tough so I toned myself down so that he wouldn't break up with me. As I remembered the things I had done to change myself I felt tears form in the corners of my eyes.

I sank to the floor and wrapped my arms around my knees. "Max? Max, are you all right?" Fang called from the phone I didn't say anything to Fang instead I simply hung up the phone with a click. I spent about an hour sitting on the floor thinking about my relationship with Sam. Was Fang right about what he said? As I thought about it I realized I had changed myself to make Sam like me more. I couldn't imagine myself without Sam so I guess I went along with whatever he said. Maybe it was time to bring old Max back. In order to do that Sam had to go. I wasn't going to lie to myself, I was afraid of how it would go but I was going to do it anyways.

**I need to feel appreciated**  
**Like I'm not hated, oh no**  
**Why can't you see me through his eyes?**  
**It's too bad, you're making me dizzy**  
**But according to me you're stupid, you're useless**  
**You can't do anything right**

The next day I went to Sam's earlier than usual. Instead of making myself look all girly for him I wore what I wanted to. Jeans and a simple t-shirt was what the old Max would wear so it was good enough for me to wear now.

With extreme force I knocked on the door and stepped back for Sam to open it. I saw him move from the other side of the window and he looked surprised to see me there. "Max what are you doing here so early? And what are you wearing?" Sam was still in his pajamas, his hair a ruffled mess and eyes still tired looking.

"Sam we need to talk," I said. He looked taken aback for a moment but opened his door wider and let me inside. I sat down on his couch and he sat across from me. I took a deep breath and said, "Sam I think it would be better it we stopped seeing each other." The look Sam gave me made it look like I ran over his puppy in front of his eyes.

"You, you're breaking up with me?" Sam stuttered. I nodded slowly, unsure of how he was going to react. "Why? What's wrong with me that made you think you had to do this? Anger flared up in Sam's eyes. It was that anger in him that used to make me back down but not this time.

"I'll tell you what's wrong with you. You're controlling, insulting, demanding and you don't make me happy. I can never do anything right in your eyes and I'm just really tired of it."

"It's not that I find fault in everything you do, it's that you do everything wrong. I don't look for you to do something wrong in fact every time you do something I pray that you'll do it right for once."

"Well guess what! I found someone who doesn't find fault in anything I do. He lets me be myself and doesn't put me down," I snapped back. "And now if you don't mind I'm going to go see him. Good bye Sam. I'll be by later to get my stuff; I'll bring your things over when I do." I stood up and let Sam's house. As I heard the door shut behind me I breathed a sigh of relief. That had gone easier than I thought. I felt so proud of myself for standing up to Sam. Max was back! I started running down the street towards Fang's house hoping and praying that he was home.

I think I ran about eight blocks at my top speed then I slowed down to a jog for the last few. By the time I saw Fang's house I thought my lungs were going to explode. Using what I felt like was my last bit of energy I rang Fang's doorbell and hoped he would answer.

A click from the other side of the door made me perk up and then the door opened with a very surprised Fang on the other side. "Max? What's going on? Are you ok?" he asked worriedly. I held up my hand to get him to stop talking. I took a few deep breaths trying to get control of my lungs again.

Fang grabbed me by the arm and pulled me inside his house. With a gentle push he sat me down in a kitchen chair and got me a glass of water. "Fang I'm ok. I just ran all the way here from Sam's house," I finally said. I heard a crash and looked over at Fang. He had slammed the glass so hard the bottom of it shattered.

"What? What happened Max?" Fang seethed. It took me a minute to realize why he was so mad and then it hit me.

"No no. Oh no Fang. You have it totally wrong. I ran all the over here because I wanted to talk to you. I-I broke up with Sam. I came over here because I wanted to thank you, for everything that you've done for me." Fang's expression softened and he sat down across from me at his table.

"You broke up with him? Really?" I nodded and Fang's eyes seemed to light up. "That's good. He wasn't right for you anyways. So, what are you going to do now?" I sat there for a few moments thinking about that. Then an idea popped into my head.

"I'm going to properly thank the person who showed me that Sam was scum." Then I leaned across the table and kissed Fang.

**But according to him I'm beautiful, incredible**  
**He can't get me out of his head**  
**According to him I'm funny, irresistible**  
**Everything he ever wanted**  
**Everything is opposite, I don't feel like stopping it**  
**Baby tell me what I got to lose**  
**He's into me for everything I'm not**  
**According to you, you**  
**According to you, you**

As the weeks passed my life couldn't have been any more perfect. I was happier with Fang as my boyfriend than I had ever been with Sam. Now that Sam and I were apart I was able to hang out with my old friend and just be more myself in general. Almost every day I would meet up with Fang in nothing but a t-shirt and an old pair of jeans and every day he would tell me how beautiful I looked. I had moved on so much from being with Sam I put all his stuff in a box on his doorstep and left. I could have cared less if he gave me my stuff back. Secretly I hoped he would hold onto it and every time he saw it he would be reminded of what a jerk he was to me.

"Max! Come on it's our turn to get on the ride!" Fang called. We were at the Pier simply goofing off and having a great time together. Nudge, Iggy, Angel and some of our other friends had come as well and it had been such a fun day. I smiled at Fang and ran up to where he was in the line.

"Sorry, I was spacing again," I apologized sheepishly. Fang grinned and took my hand in his.

"That's one of the things I like the most about you." With a huge grin I stood up on my tip toes and pecked him on the cheek. When we got off the ride I looked around at all the people on the Pier. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted someone familiar.

"Well, look who it is, my former boyfriend," I said to Fang. I gestured over in Sam's direction and smirked. Fang rolled his eyes and led me down the Pier in Sam's direction. As we passed him I was able to catch a glance at him. He was looking at me with what looked like disappointment. I shrugged at him and kept walking with Fang. Sam could think whatever he wanted to about me. I didn't need him anymore.

**According to you I'm stupid, I'm useless**  
**I can't do anything right**

**Well there it is. I know the ending was a bit rushed but I was running out of dialogue. Hopefully it didn't ruin the story. Well this is it for now. One of these days I'll get around to finishing Burning Glory. I just need to remind myself of some of the things I wanted to write about in it. Plus it's hard becasue the internet is a VERY distracting thing and it keeps me from writing. I don't know what I'm going to do about that one...oh well I'll figure something out. For now..peace out! **

**Oh and PS I don't own any of James Patterson's characters. They all belong to him and I'm thankful that he lets us borrow them for our insane ramblings.**


End file.
